iOS 9 Features Announced at WWDC 2015: A Bird-eye View

83% of active iPhone users are using iOS 8. Not only are they getting the most recent features, but they’re up to date on the security. By introducing iOS 9 with its extraordinary features, Apple wants to elevate the foundations of the platform. But there is something more they wanted to do: adding intelligence throughout the user-experience without compromising their privacy.

Siri + Spotlight + Proactive Assistant

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When it comes to intelligence, Siri comes into picture. According to Apple, Siri serves more than a billion requests a week, down to a 5% word error. With Siri, you can do lot more on iOS 9 – see photos, set reminder, make Siri see your apps and more. Siri can also suggest things you might want to do or people you might want to contact based on your email and calendar when you pull down the Spotlight shade. The new Proactive Assistant will also optimize the iPhone and iPad, which will now anticipate what you want based on context (that is your geographical location, time of day, whatever app you have opened) and give you suggestions. For example, when you hold your iPhone in the morning, iOS will suggest apps to open based on what you usually do.

API for Search

There is an API for search that can find content behind the apps when users perform a search; when users tap, they are deep-linked into the app. API for search with deep links should be really powerful. A lot of the same ideas Google has for Android, but it looks like all the smart ideas are happening on the phone in Apple’s apps, instead of in Google’s cloud.

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News

This will easily replace Flipboard from your iOS device. The News app is a way to get web content in a native app. The app will deliver the best articles in Apple News format, no matter from where the content is coming. Apple explained this app in detail to inform people how cool the user-experience is. News app is a visual RSS reader, and publishers should quickly get on board if there is a way to display ads. Apple has already got many publishers to work on News. This app will be available in the US, the UK and Australia for now.

Trackpad for iPad

QuickType is the new addition to iPad. Apple sets iPhone apart from iPad by adding trackpad feature to the iPad. Put your two fingers on the keyboard and it becomes a trackpad, and you can move the cursor around. Above the keyboard, there are new shortcuts to cut, copy and paste content.

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iPad Split-screen Multitasking

When Microsoft first presented multi-window support in the tablet mode for Windows 8, everybody expected Apple to mimic this feature. In WWDC 2015, Apple has put on this new and enhanced multitasking mode for the first time of its iOS 9 preview. The iPad multitasking mode is now designed around three thingsL SlideOver, Split View and picture-in-picture (PiP). It is quite obvious from the demo that Apple was greatly inspired by Windows tablets and touchscreen devices. The Split-screen view allows users to keep both apps active and do things in both simultaneously.

Transit in Maps

If you are using Apple Maps on iOS 9, you will be able to get public transit directions. Apple has restored its core functionality in its mobile operating system. In 2012, the company had replaced Google Maps with its own software. According to the keynote delivered by Craig Federighi, Software VP of Apple, this feature will cover bus, ferry, subway, and train routes. During its launch, this feature will include cities like Baltimore, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington DC. of the United States. Transit directions will also be available internationally in London, Toronto, and Berlin.

Loyalty Cards

Apple wants to make its Apple Pay more feature rich and therefore, Apple Pay is likely to garner support from stores, apps and banks in future. Apple Pay is also coming to the UK. With Apple Pay, users can store their rewards cards in the Passbook app, which will be called Wallet. Apple says that it is an interesting feature as number of loyalty cards will help you build a habit, and you would like to use Apple Pay every time you need to pay for food & drinks.

Rich-Text Notes

You can make checklists in notes and add photos from the app. Moreover, you can also draw and sketch inside notes. Also add a link to notes from the share sheet. It is no longer a text app, rather it has grown into a rich-text editor. Evernote users would like to switch to this new experience.

Miscellaneous

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Inspired by its own Apple Watch, iOS 9 now provides a low-power mode that changes a few features to save battery; according to Apple, this feature will get up to three extra hours of battery. If you are using iPhone 6 or 6 Plus with 16GB space, good news is that iOS 9 will require 1.8GB instead of 4.6GB. This will make update process much faster. iOS 9 will come up with lot of new SDKs like SpriteKit, SceneKit, GameplayKit, ReplayKit and Model I/O.